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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24307900">The magic of the pillow fort</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinnie/pseuds/tinnie'>tinnie</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Riverdale (TV 2017)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bughead Parents, Dad!Jughead, F/M, Fluff, Future Fic, Mom!Betty</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 03:14:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,842</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24307900</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinnie/pseuds/tinnie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes all you need after a difficult day is a pillow fort filled with your favorite people in the world.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>140</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>7th Bughead Fanfiction Awards - Nominees, Riverdale Bingo Winter 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The magic of the pillow fort</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I've had this story started for ages and thought I could finish a quick little one-shot before I get back to working on multi-chapters. In my usual fashion, this was neither as quick or as little as I thought it would be. But hopefully it's just as sweet and fluffy as I intended.<br/>Big thank you goes to miss_eee for looking over my mistakes. Go and look at her fics if you haven't yet.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Betty never expected working for the New York Times to be a walk in the park. After all, it took her years to even get an interview there, let alone to get hired. It certainly wasn't a job for quitters. Thankfully for her, Betty Jones was no quitter. No matter how many times she had to rewrite or even scrape her whole article, no matter how many times she got yelled at for things she didn't do, she never gave up. Yet, there were days like this one, when she just wanted to walk out of there and never look back. But she pulled through her day, hoping tomorrow would bring something more positive.</p><p>As if a tough day at work wasn’t enough, her usual fifteen-minute commute home turned into a forty-five minute one and by the time she opens the front door, all she wants to do is fall face-first into a pillow and hope that sleep will fix everything. But Betty isn't five anymore. She’s just turned thirty and at that age, sleep can't fix all her problems. It would only delay them.</p><p>She walks into the apartment, kicking off her shoes and hanging her coat by the door, surprised how quiet it is. Usually, when she comes home it's filled with loud chatter and sound of music or TV in the background. But today it's weirdly calm. Slowly, she walks towards the living room, following the dimmed light and muffled sound of voices. A small smile spreads across her lips as she stops in the doorway and looks around. The center of the living room has been turned into a big pillow fort, the voices she heard earlier coming out from underneath the blankets.</p><p> </p><p>“You know what?” a soft girly voice asks.</p><p>“What sweetie?”</p><p>“I think Prince Eric looks just like you, daddy.”</p><p>“Oh, does he?” Jughead chuckles. “Does that mean mommy is Ariel?”</p><p>“Don't be silly, daddy. Ariel has red hair,” the little girl says with a giggle that makes Betty's heart swell. “She looks like Aunty Cheryl. Mommy looks like Rapunzel because she has beautiful blonde hair.”</p><p>“That she does. Just like you.” Betty can practically hear the smile on his face as their daughter lets out another adorable giggle.</p><p>The solemn expression she’s been wearing almost the whole day is quickly replaced by a grin. There is nothing that could lift up her spirits as easily as seeing Jughead bond with their daughter. Despite being a bit scared of that idea at first, he’s turned out to be a wonderful dad, working hard to avoid all the mistakes his own father had made. Ellie’s had him wrapped around her tiny finger since the moment she was born, if not even before that, but Betty couldn't blame him. The little girl, while carrying her mother's looks, has her father’s charm and no one could ever say no to her.</p><p>“Are you having a party without me?” Betty asks, popping her head in between the blankets, not able to stay away from her family any longer.</p><p>“Mommy!” Ellie exclaims, jumping up from her seat the moment she sees her mother, the movie playing on TV quickly forgotten. No matter whether Betty’s been gone on a work trip for three days or in the nearest grocery store for thirty minutes, her daughter’s excitement over seeing her is just the same.</p><p>“Hi, baby,” Betty says, peppering Ellie’s face with kisses. The excitement over seeing each other, after all, isn’t all that one-sided. “How was your day?”</p><p>“Marvelous,” she says, proudly using the new word she’s learned recently. “We baked cookies and read books and played with my cars and…” her lips can barely move fast enough as she tries to recount all the <em>marvelous</em> things she did that day. “And then daddy made me a pillow fort. Do you like it, mommy?”</p><p>“I love it. Your daddy makes the best pillow forts,” Betty says with a smile and Jughead gives her a knowing grin.</p><p>She knows they are both thinking of the same thing. It was a night spent in a pillow fort five years ago that lead to the blonde angel that was now standing between them being born nine months later.</p><p>“How about you go grab one of those cookies for mommy?” Jughead suggests and Ellie dashes out of the pillow fort and towards the kitchen, giving her parents a moment alone.</p><p>“Hey there,” Jughead says, as Betty crawls towards him, planting a soft kiss on his lips before settling on one of the many throw pillows spread across the floor. “And how was your day? Also marvelous?”</p><p>“Exhausting. The office was a complete mess today.” Betty sighs, resting her head against his shoulder. “But I saw the cutest baby on the way home.”</p><p>A small smile spreads across her lips, but she knows Jughead can read the sadness behind it.</p><p>They’ve been trying for another baby for five months now, but Betty has yet to see the two lines on a test that she wishes for so much. On top of that, she feels bad for letting it get to her so much. Some couples try way harder and for much longer. Besides, they already have one perfect little girl. Maybe it’s the universe telling them to cherish what they have. Still, it doesn’t stop her heart from hurting when she sees an adorable baby on the subway, thinking about how much she wants a little sibling for their daughter.</p><p>Jughead, ever the perfect husband that he is, presses a kiss to the top of her head. “I know it's been taking a little longer than we expected, but it will happen. I'm sure of it. Ellie was born to be a big sister.”</p><p>Betty chuckles at that. She really was. While always full of energy and endlessly inquisitive, their little girl is also the gentlest soul with a heart so big it can only match her father’s. Betty has no doubts that if or when the times comes, Ellie will be the best big sister.</p><p>“Well,” Jughead whispers, his lips brushing against Betty’s ear making her shiver, “maybe once Ellie goes to bed, we can return to this very special pillow fort and...”</p><p>“You think pillows and blankets will make me more fertile?” Betty asks with a giggle.</p><p>“It worked before, didn't it?” He cocks his head to the side, her favorite adorable grin spreading on his face.</p><p>“We got the most precious little girl out of it.” She smiles, and as if on cue, Ellie bounces back to the pillow fort.</p><p>“Here you go, mommy. Your cookie,” she says in a perfectly sweet tone, but Betty can immediately see the mischief on her face. She doesn’t have to wonder long what her little rascal has done this time when she notices a smear of chocolate on her cheek and leftover crumbs of what can only be a cookie around her mouth.</p><p>“What did we say about no more cookies before dinner?” Jughead asks in what Betty knows as his attempt at an authoritative dad voice. It never works, all three of them knowing he’s too much of a softie to enforce any rules. Especially those he can’t even follow himself.</p><p>Ellie’s eyes grow comically wide and both Betty and Jughead can barely keep in their laughter. “I… don’t know.”</p><p>Betty shakes her head lovingly, trying to rub the smear of chocolate from Ellie’s face with her thumb. “You’re just like your daddy, sweetie.”</p><p>Ellie ponders that sentence for a few moments before a grin spreads across her face. “That’s okay. Daddy is cool.”</p><p>With a hearty laugh, Jughead pulls her into his lap, planting a big kiss on her cheek. “That’s right kiddo, remember that when you’re older.”</p><p>As Betty watches her husband and their daughter interact, she feels her heart growing impossibly full. She could hardly imagine ever feeling happier. Maybe it’s foolish to want things to change when they’re already perfect.</p><p>But they do change a little. For the better.</p><p>Fifteen months later, the Jones family is once again gathered in a pillow fort, the only difference being that The Little Mermaid has been replaced by Frozen and the baby sitting in Betty’s lap.</p><p>Theo Pendleton Jones is, at six months, a striking copy of his father. From the dark locks, bright blue eyes and endless appetite, down to the Jones girls giving him all their love and attention.</p><p>Ellie, now a proud kindergartener, coos over her little brother, trying to explain the plot of the movie to him.</p><p>“This is Elsa,” she says, pointing to the TV. “She has ice magic and she’s a queen. But in the second movie…” Quickly, she claps her hand over her mouth as if to physically stop the spoilers from spilling out. “I can’t tell you that. You’ll have to watch it.”</p><p>“I think your brother is a bit too young to really understand the movie,” Jughead says with a chuckle.</p><p>“But you said you’re never too young to learn about good quality movies,” Ellie says, her big green eyes blinking at her father as she waits for his response. She takes after her parents in this and a simple explanation is never enough for her. It makes them both incredibly proud and frustrated at times.</p><p>Right now though, Betty can barely hold in her laugh as she watches her husband scramble for an answer that would please their six-year-old. He has, in fact, said that more than once, but Frozen probably wasn’t the movie he had in mind.</p><p>“While that’s true,” Betty steps in and Jughead throws her a grateful glance, “I think daddy was exaggerating a little.”</p><p>Ellie crosses her arms, turning towards Jughead with a scorn. “Lying is bad, daddy. You need to go sit in a time-out.”</p><p>At that response, Betty can no longer hold back her laughter and even Theo lets out a little baby chuckle in support of his sister’s antics.</p><p>Jughead, on the other hand, gives a dramatic gasp. “Ella Rose Jones, did you just call me a liar?”</p><p>Ellie seems to hesitate for a bit, biting her lip as she thinks of her next words, but eventually, she nods. “Yes. And lying is bad.”</p><p>“You know what this means?” Jughead asks, a grin spreading across his face and Betty knows exactly what’s coming next. A tried and tested way of solving any conflict between the father and daughter.</p><p>“Tickle fight!” Ellie yells, throwing herself towards Jughead, her tiny fingers trying to find their way in between her father’s ribs as he pretends to get overpowered before he finally scoops her up in his arms and retaliates with tickles on her stomach.</p><p>Betty watches them with an amused smile, bouncing the baby in her lap. “Your daddy and sister are real silly beans, aren’t they Theo?” she asks, giving him a little tickle on the belly as well and he responds with a sweet laugh.</p><p>Maybe this time things can’t change for the better. Yet somehow, they always do.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I hope you enjoyed this little fluffy idea. Please let me know.<br/>As always, you can find me on tumblr @i-know-you-can</p></blockquote></div></div>
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